Austin
Austin & Ally is an American teen sitcom which first aired on The Disney Channel on December 2, 2011. The series was created by Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert, the writers and producers of the Disney Channel sitcoms Sonny with a Chance and Jonas. Production for the pilot episode began in mid-February 2011, and on May 24, 2011, the Disney Channel announced that Austin & Ally had been picked up as a series. They initially ordered 13 episodes, though that number was later increased to 21, However, only 19 aired. The first promo for the series was released on October 2011, during the Disney Channel's Make Your Mark: The Ultimate Dance-Off event. A series preview followed the premiere of the Disney Channel Original Movie, Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas!, and the series officially premiered on December 4, 2011. The show was renewed for a second season, and resumed production in the summer of 2012.Season 2 premiered on October 7, 2012, and production for Season 2 ended in early February 2013. The show was planned to renew for a third season on March 12, 2013 at the Disney upfront. It was officially confirmed on April 2, 2013 by Disney Channel. Season 3 premiered on October 27, 2013, and production for Season 3 ended on January 24, 2014. Austin & Ally was officially renewed for a fourth season on April 25, 2014 and premiered on January 18, 2015. On February 6, 2015, Laura Marano stated that the fourth season would be the final season. Plot Set in Miami, Austin & Ally is a multi-camera comedy about the relationship between two very different musicians: extroverted singer and instrumentalist Austin Moon (Ross Lynch), who is fun-loving and outgoing; and introverted and awkward songwriter Ally Dawson (Laura Marano), who is a singer but has a bad case of stage fright (throughout the entirety of season 1 and the beginning of season 2). In the pilot episode "Rockers & Writers", Austin secretly records one of Ally's songs without her knowing. He becomes famous from it after his best friend Dez (Calum Worthy) directs Austin in a music video for the song and posts it on the internet. Once Ally, convinced by her best friend Trish (Raini Rodriguez), takes credit for her song, Austin convinces her to become his partner. The two agree to work together, and become close friends, while struggling to keep Austin's new-found fame and profit from it. Trish pitches in as Austin's manager and Dez continues to direct Austin's music videos. The foursome have many adventures while in Austin's music career. At the end of the first season, Austin gets signed to Jimmy Starr's record label. The second season sees both Austin and Ally taking bigger steps. Ally conquers her stage fright by performing a duet with Austin. By the end of the season two finale, Ally signs a record deal and records an album with Ronnie Ramone, and Austin goes on his first national tour. Due to her schedule with Ronnie Ramone, Ally is unable to attend the first half of Austin's tour, but in the first two episodes of season three, Ally does attend the second half of the tour. In season three, Ally's career takes off. Later in the season (in Records & Wrecking balls) Ally is making her first album. By the end of the season three finale, Austin sacrifices his music career when his record label forbids him from being together with Ally. Austin chooses to be with Ally as they confess their love for each other. In the end, Austin goes with Ally on her first tour, Dez goes to film school in L.A. and Trish starts her own management company. The series has been described as a "pint-sized" version of HBO's comedy-drama Entourage. Cast and characters Main cast *'Ross Lynch' as Austin Moon,an outgoing, confident, and talented singer. After becoming an "overnight" internet sensation by performing a song he'd overheard Ally singing, Ally tracks him down to confront him for theft, but they eventually become friends instead and decide to form a musical partnership. His partnership with Ally is initially built on the idea that "she writes, he rocks"; Ally is a brilliant songwriter but is too timid to perform her own music, while Austin loves to perform but is unable to write for himself. Their radically different personalities tend to clash early on, although they find they're much more alike than they think as their friendship develops, leading to an on-again/off-again romance starting in Season 2. His best friend is Dez, who directs and films all of his music videos for him, and his manager is Trish. Austin gives music lessons and teaches students about being a performer at the A&A Music Factory in Season 4. *'Laura Marano' as Ally Dawson,a singer-songwriter with severe stage fright and a quiet, shy personality. She originally wrote for herself, but after Austin accidentally stole one of her songs and became an internet sensation as a result, she and her best friend Trish track him down, and she eventually becomes his musical partner and songwriter. Her partnership with Austin is initially built on the idea that "she writes, he rocks"; Ally is a brilliant songwriter but is too timid to perform her own music, while Austin loves to perform but is unable to write for himself. Their radically different personalities tend to clash early on, although they find they're much more alike than they think as their friendship develops, leading to an on-again/off-again romance starting in Season 2. Ally works at her father's music store, Sonic Boom, until she manages to conquer her stage fright and begins her own career, at which point the store becomes the A&A Music Factory. She gives music lessons and teaches students about being a performer at the Music Factory in Season 4. Austin & Ally main characters: (L to R) Trish (Raini Rodriguez), Austin Moon (Ross Lynch), Ally Dawson (Laura Marano), and Dez (Calum Worthy) (Use cursor to identify).*'Raini Rodriguez' asTrish,Ally's best friend and Austin's manager. She is sarcastic, vindictive, has little patience and a bit of a temper, but cares very much for her friends. Her jobs change frequently due to her lack of effort and presence at work. She takes her job as Austin's manager, however, fairy seriously, and she also became Ally's manager when her career takes off. She has a complicated love/hate relationship with Dez. She teaches students at the A&A Music Factory about being a celebrity manager in Season 4. *'Calum Worthy '''as Dez,[an aspiring director with a quirky, eccentric personality and an unusual fashion style. He films all of Austin's music videos and is Austin's best friend. He's considerably dense and lacks much logical understanding, which tends to land him and the group in messy situations. He has a complicated love/hate relationship with Trish. He teaches students at the A&A Music Factory about filming and directing music videos in Season 4. Recurring cast *'Cole Sand''' as Nelson, an awkward young boy who takes music lessons from Ally. He constantly uses the phrase, "aww, nartz!" and tends to mix up words that sound alike, such as "oboe" and "hobo." *'Andy Milder' as Lester Dawson, Ally's cheapskate father who owns the music store Sonic Boom. He is completely ignorant of Ally's musical talents and believes that Ally has a billion-to-one shot at making it in the music business, just like Austin's parents have told him. He and Penny, Ally's mother, are divorced. *'Richard Whiten' as Jimmy Starr, the owner of Starr Records who signs Austin to his record label. *Aubrey K. Miller as Megan Simms, a 10-year-old reporter photographer for Cheetah Beat magazine. Megan is eccentric and constantly uses teenage slang terms such as "totes" or "hilar." She is stubborn and nosy as well, as she is bent on getting the stories she's after for the magazine. *'John Henson' as Mike Moon, Austin's father, who co-owns the mattress store Moon's Mattress Kingdom. *Jill Benjamin as Mimi Moon, Austin's mother, who used to be a hand model before co-owning Moon's Mattress Kingdom. *'Julia Campbell' as Penny Dawson, Ally's wildlife biologist mother. She was researching gorillas in Africa and came home in "Chapters & Choices" to see Ally and her friends. She and Lester, Ally's father, are divorced. *'Kiersey Clemons' as Kira Starr, Jimmy Starr's daughter and Austin's ex-girlfriend. Kira temporarily had a case of repugnant breath, causing the gang to be extremely wary of her throughout "Ferris Wheels and Funky Breath". Her bad breath was caused by her constant eating of garlic and anchovy pizza. Her bad breath cleared away afterward. *John Paul Green as Chuck, a short, country-speaking teenager who believes he is better than Dez at everything. Their rivalry follows a long history of their families feuding, so Chuck and Dez often get into similar battles. He usually wears cowboy attire. *'Trevor Jackson' as Trent, Trish's ex-boyfriend and Team Austin's rival. *'Noah Centineo' as Dallas, Ally's former crush who worked at a cell phone accessories cart. *'Ashley Fink '''as Mindy, an older teenage girl who is the manager of ''The Melody Diner and has a crush on Dez. Dez himself has no interested in her, and is more intimidated by her than anything, as Mindy is overbearing and aggressive. *'Carrie Wampler' as Brooke, an ex-girlfriend of Austin's. She is entirely obsessed with Austin and is desperate to get back together with him. *'Madison McMillin' as European Supermodel (her real name is unknown), who was hired to be Austin's girlfriend by Trish as a cover-up. She appears again in "Tunes & Trials" as a candidate who the song Steal Your Heart is about. *'Saidah Arrika Ekulona' as Val Crawford, the manager of the group The Stray Kitties. She and Team Austin have something of a rivalry, since she is bitter over the gang tricking her into allowing Ally to leave The Stray Kitties. *'Joe Rowley' as Ronnie Ramone, the owner of the Ramone Records who signs Ally to his record label. *Hannah Kat Jones as Carrie, a waitress at Shredder's Beach Club, Piper's sister and Dez's girlfriend. She broke up with him in Los Angeles, but they got back together in "Wedding Bells & Wacky Birds." *'Cameron Deane Stewart '''as Jace, a boy who Trish met when she was on tour and Trish's long-distance boyfriend. *'Hayley Erin''' as Piper, Carrie's sister and Austin's ex-girlfriend. *'Cameron Jebo' as Gavin Young, a country performer and Ally's ex-boyfriend. Episodes ''Jessie'' crossover In November 2012, Disney Channel announced that the show would crossover with Jessie as an hour-long special episode titled "Austin & JESSIE & Ally All Star New Year" The special episode aired on December 7, 2012. In this episode, Austin finally gets to perform in Times Square on New Year's Eve like he has always dreamed of—with help from Jessie (Debby Ryan) and the Ross kids. Later, Jessie and the kids travel to Miami with Austin, Ally, Dez, and Trish. Jessie inadvertently steals lyrics that were written by Zuri (Skai Jackson) and tries to get Austin to sing them with her. Meanwhile, Ravi (Karan Brar) is jealous to see that the family's pet lizard, Mrs. Kipling, may have a crush on Dez (Calum Worthy). It turns out that Mrs. Kipling does not like Dez at all. Development and production The series was created by Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert, the writers and producers of the Nickelodeon comedy series All That and theDisney Channel sitcoms Sonny with a Chance and Jonas. Production for the pilot episode began in mid-February 2011 The pilot was directed by Shelley Jensen. Casting for the series regulars were held nationally around the United States and shooting for the pilot began in early March 2011. On May 24, 2011, Disney Channel announced that Austin & Ally had been picked up as a series. On September 29, 2011, it was announced that Disney Channel had extended the show's episode order from 13 episodes to 21 Shooting for the first season completed on January 27, 2012.It was announced on March 11, 2012, that the show had been renewed for a second season and production would resume that summer,though the cast's first day back for the second season was earlier than that, on June 4, 2012. The show made its DVD debut with "Austin & Ally: All the Write Moves" which was released on June 18, 2013 and "Austin & Ally: Chasing the Beat" released on August 26, 2014. The third season of the series began production July 8, 2013, with a season premiere expected in October 2013. The fourth season started production on October 13, 2014 for a season premiere set on January 18, 2015. Reception The series preview attracted 5.7 million viewers and the official premiere garnered 4.0 million viewers. Austin & Ally was ranked the No.1 Telecast on Sunday premieres among pre-teens 9–12 and teens 13–19. As of June 8, 2015 the most viewed Austin & Ally episode is "Rockers & Writers" with 5.7 million views, the second most viewed episode is "Campers & Complications" with 4.9 million views and the least viewed episode is "Homework & Hidden Talents" with 1.4 million views Songs Awards and nominations Broadcast The series airs worldwide on Disney Channel. It aired as a preview in Canada alongside the original broadcast and premiered on January 20, 2012. It premiered in Singapore on March 3, 2012 and in Australia and New Zealand on March 23, 2012 In India, the series premiered on Disney Channel India on December 1, 2013. In the UK and Ireland the series was a preview on March 30, 2012 and premiered on April 20, 2012. Category:Series Category:Currently Airing Category:DCOS